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Direct flights to benefit both sides: Ma

President-elect Ma Ying-jeou, back row, fifth left, and members of the pop group One Million Star 2 are joined by children at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Ilan Green Expo in Ilan County yesterday. PHOTO: CNA

President-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday that the goal of opening direct flights with China was not to encourage more Taiwanese businesspeople to invest there, but to benefit both sides of the Strait and help reduce cross-strait hostilities.

Speaking at a Keystone civic group function in Taichung, Ma also pledged to prioritize construction of a rapid transit system in the central city after his inauguration.

In an effort to solidify support from the business sector, the president-elect vowed to take concrete action once he takes office in May.

He said that direct flights would not only be economically lucrative, they would also resolve the longstanding confrontation and hostilities between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

"The purpose of regular direct flights is to provide more convenience to businesspeople. It is up to individual companies how much they would like to invest in China," he said.

"It will not take much money to conduct regular direct flights, and this is something I will push as soon as I take office," he said.

"Direct flights can help save time and money," he said, adding that regular direct flights could begin immediately after all seven designated airports were deemed ready to take on the new load.

Ma, using his campaign slogan "Are you ready?" as a catch phrase for his address, told the attending businesspeople an annual NT$600 million in revenue and 40,000 jobs would be created once Taiwan opens tourism to Chinese visitors.

The president-elect said that one of his priorities would be to establish a rapid transit system in Taichung City. He added that instead of creating a rapid transit system bureau to assist Taichung, the Taipei City Rapid Transit System Co could provide technical assistance.

Ma also promised to help businesses become more sustainable by promoting eco-friendly initiatives.

"Taiwanese businesses must look toward long-term sustainability as well as short-term gain. We must help the business sector reduce carbon emissions by going green," Ma said.

Ma, who won the March 22 election by a large margin over Democratic Progressive Party candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), promised not to be vindictive or to abuse the power entrusted in him by the public.

He said that consumer spending had risen since the election because the public was more optimistic about the nation's economic potential under new leadership.

"At this rate, we believe this could generate NT$100 billion (US$3.3 billion) in business opportunities and raise the GDP by 1 percent this year," he said.

One of Ma's campaign promises was to boost GDP growth to 6 percent from 5.7 percent last year.
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